Beer in the data center, it can't be. Drinking on the job documented

No liquids is a rule for data centers in many areas.  And, what few are aware of how many times beer is in the data center.

KomoNews reports on construction workers caught drinking beer during the job.

Hidden camera investigation catches 520 bridge workers drinking on the job

By KOMO News Staff Published: May 22, 2012 at 2:04 PM PDT Last Updated: May 22, 2012 at 3:17 PM PDT

SEATTLE -- A KOMO 4 Problem Solver investigation has discovered workers on the largest construction project in the state drinking on the job.

Worker after worker after worker can be seen on camera at the project headquarters for the 520 bridge replacement project with a beer in hand drinking in the middle of the afternoon.

Part of KomoNews shows is the fridge where the beer is.

 Don't look for the beer in the fridge in the data center.  The Beer is in the raised floor.

As temperatures are raised in data centers we may see less beer under the floor, but given the number of data centers users that still want 68 degree inlet temperatures there will be many data centers that are good chillers.

Downtime Data Center Social for planned maintenance, connecting the Thought Leaders

I like working in the Data Center Industry because of the people.  Throughout my career I have worked in specialized knowledge areas like packaging engineering & logistics, OEM product development, fonts, publishing and many others.  

Apple and Microsoft unified efforts to fight Adobe with TrueType in a font wars.  Which then led to the font groups in Microsoft, Apple, and Adobe fighting a war, but the industry was suffering.  Font wars are stupid as the end user simply wants something to work. So I spent time ending the font wars between Microsoft and Adobe creating OpenType.

Thank god I left fonts behind me in 1994 and have moved on to a bunch of other technologies.  But, it does remind that wars are many times destructive to both sides and users can be the casualties of the battles.

Luckily in the data center world companies are not fighting a war of their standards like TrueType vs. Type 1.  Well maybe the vendors are fighting battles, but the data center industry is no longer dominated by the vendors.  It is dominated by the companies who are designing, building, and running the biggest data center capacities around the world.  People who want to do the right thing and get the industry being more efficient, greener in its use of resources and energy.

One year ago we had the idea for a data center social and Mike Manos said Dave take a picture when else are you going to get this group of people together.  I didn't take a picture then.  Last night we got an even better group of people together.  Double the crowd.  And, I did take a picture.

Of the venue without the people. :-)

With some of the top data center thought leaders connecting on a regular basis it is much easier for the industry to work together.  And not be at war.

The Downtime Data Center Social is in its second year, and a third one is going to be easy to do. Last night we discussed a Fall event possibly in the Pacific Northwest.  In the fall of 2011 a group of us went to NYC financials, and these companies are asking when we'll get together again.  We'll see if the Fall 2012 social works.  At a minimum we'll have a spring 2013 Downtime Data Social.

Data Center Innovators the guys who are willing to break the rules

I just had a great day at DataCenter Dynamics Seattle, and some of the best conversations were with the guys (sorry no offense to women, but there aren’t a whole of women in the data center design, construction, and operations) who break the rules.  Guys who don’t live in the safe zone of a risk adverse culture.

Why is this important?  Well if you have plenty of money for CapEx and OpEx for your data center it is not a problem.  But, in these times this is a dying mindset.  The survivors are those who are willing to break the rules of convention.  The so called expertise in the industry coming the long established practices has less value.

For an example, of one guy who is winning and breaking the rules check out this WSJ blog post on Ross Brawn.

Ross Brawn: The Most Dangerous Man in Formula One?

• Article
• Comments

DRIVER’S SEAT HOME PAGE »

• Email
• Print
• •  
    
  •  
    
  • + More
• Text

By Jonathan Clegg

Getty Images

Ross Brawn

When Nico Rosberg won the Chinese Grand Prix for Mercedes last month, it marked a historic milestone in Formula One racing. The victory was the first by the Mercedes team in F1 since 1955, and it was Rosberg’s first on the world’s foremost auto-racing circuit after 111 races.

The WSJ post calls Ross a genius.

But it also provided confirmation of something that is become increasingly clear in recent years: In the world of F1 racing, and perhaps even the sports world period, Ross Brawn, the Mercedes team principal, may be the closest thing there is to a certifiable genius.

What does Ross do?  He knows where he can innovate.

Brawn thus has what may be an unparalleled knowledge of the arcane regulations and specifications that make up F1′s rule book. By navigating its gray areas, he has produced some of the most creative—and contentious—innovations in F1 history.

Ross’s magic is done within budget constraints.

In today’s F1, Brawn’s knack for operating at the limit of the rules is more valuable than ever. In an era when cost-cutting measures have restricted how much testing teams can do and how many technical staffers they can employ, one innovation can provide an insurmountable edge.

It is easy to break the rules when you have lots of money, but those days are gone.  The really smart data center guys are being like a Ross Brawn.

In Design, People

The Real Data Center, lessons from The Real CSI, How reliable is the science behind forensics

PBS Frontline has a video on The Real CSI.

Watch The Real CSI on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

Watching this video brings into questions of science behind fingerprints, blood tests and bite marks.

The one method that has trumped a bunch of these techniques is DNA testing.

It is interesting talking to the people who  have lots of data center experience, and in some ways it feels like these are the people who haved figured out the science of data centers, and what really works.

in the same way that fingerprints and blood testing are popular and accepted by the mass public, it doesn't necessary mean there is science behind the techniques.

Are you practicing data center science or using the common accepted methods?  There is a difference.

a t-shirt for old data center guys, Old Guys Rule

I've been working with in the Technology industry for over 30 years.  5 years at HP, 7 years at Apple, 14 years at Microsoft, and 6 years on my own.

In one of my Skype video chat sessions a friend saw my Old Guys Rule t-shirt.

A badge of honor.
There comes a time in your life when comfort meets substance. When all your hard work seems to have paid dividends, and the world is at your command. All the things you hoped you could do someday, you're doing. The toils of youth are now your experiences... no longer the student, but the teacher.

To celebrate your accomplishments we offer up "Old Guys Rule" to be worn as a badge of honor for a life well spent, but not nearly over...

I'll see if any of my other data center friends buy an "old guys rule" t-shirt as well.